Turkey Bombs PKK in Iraq After Ankara Terrorist Attack

Turkey bombed camps in Iraq belonging to Kurdish separatists of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Monday, after declaring the PKK complicit in last weekend’s devastating car bomb attack on Ankara.

“The Turkish military said 11 warplanes carried out air strikes on 18 targets in northern Iraq early on Monday, including ammunition depots and shelters,” after the attack in Ankara, Reuters reports. “The PKK has its bases in the mountains of northern Iraq, controlling operations across the frontier in Turkey.”

advertisement

The Reuters piece describes apprehension among NATO allies that Turkey’s stability is in jeopardy. A rift may develop with the United States over the Kurdish situation, as Turkey insists the PKK separatists “share deep ideological and operational ties” with Syrian Kurds.

The U.S. classifies the PKK as a terrorist group but views the Syrian Kurds as vital allies against the Islamic State. Turkey is concerned that Syria’s Kurds have been a little too successful at fighting ISIS, seizing territory along the Turkish border and exciting separatist ambitions among Kurds in Turkey.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there has still been no claim of responsibility from any group for the Ankara bombing.